Here is a list of many of the High School romance manga that I am either currently reading, or have already finished, and would recommend to you. Some of the included recommendations may not physically take place within a school, but all of the characters will be in high school. I tried to include a variety of types of high school romance series, from fantasy to drama.
While many of these series are currently only available in Japanese, some also have official English publications! I included all the series available in English at the top of the list.
The Failure at God School / 神さま学校の落ちこぼれ
What’s it about?
This manga-verse is practically the same as current-day Japan, with just one caveat: there are gods walking among the living. In order to be a god, one needs to possess a great deal of strength in a special power, and must complete god school. What does a god do after completing god school? They take up residence at a shrine, and help those that come to pray to them.
Our main character, Nagi, lives in a shrine with her telekinetik younger brother. While their grandmother used to be the god at the shrine, she passed away 5 years ago, leaving the shrine to slowly wither away. Nagi wishes that her brother would inherit the role of god, however he has become a recluse ever since the death of their grandmother. He has no problems showing off his powers to Nagi, and we see him using his telekinesis to speak to her no matter where she goes throughout this volume.
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Glasses with a Chance of Delinquent / メガネ、時々、ヤンキーくん
What’s it about?
Volume 1 starts off with our main character, Momose in a bit of a predicament: her school requires all students to be in a club, and currently, she isn’t registered with any. Not to worry though, as she is quickly introduced to the honours student Ichikura, who is the only member of the “helping people club”. Momose quickly agrees to join the club, though exactly what she’ll be doing is still a little bit unclear.
When we’re introduced to Momose, we’re also introduced to her aversion towards yankee students – she used to be bullied by these students in her middle school. That’s all in the past though, and she feels at ease when with Ichikura, the honours student… That is, until his true personality is revealed – he is a “former” yankee…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Love, Out On A Limb / 僕らの好きはわりきれない
What’s it about?
Due to their parents getting divorced, Yui and her brother Hayato were forced to separate when she was only 8 years old. While her brother stayed with their father, Yui moved away with their mother. Now, 8 years later, their parents reconciled after their mother had a health scare, and they are all moving back in together.
While this should be a happy time in all of their lives, Yui has quickly noticed herself going through a very large problem – her brother gets her very flustered. While they have stayed in contact these 8 years, it seems like they haven’t seen each other at all. And now that they’re finally together, she’s really not used to being around him…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Pink and Habanero / ピンクとハバネロ
What’s it about?
Mugi, our protagonist, is going through a bit of a rough time. At her new high school, she isn’t friends with any of her classmates, and even worse, she doesn’t have a boyfriend. While she does have a popular best friend, she unfortunately goes to a different school.
Due to her being a little bit socially awkward, she hasn’t really been able to try and make new friends quite yet. As she’s reflecting on her lack of progress, she overheards one of her popular classmates, Kurose, getting confessed to. She also overhears his blunt rejection of the confession, and makes an aside to herself about how mean she thinks he is. He tells her “and that’s why you’re not popular”, and walks away…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Yojouhan no Ibara Hime / 四畳半のいばら姫
What’s it about?
Our protagonist, Shinra, at just 16 has already had an incredibly difficult life. She lives in a tiny apartment all on her own, with next to no money. While she does have a mother, her mother prefers to spend her time moving from man to man, rather than taking care of her own daughter. So, for the majority of her life, Shinra has been all on her own. From paying the house bills to attending her own parent-teacher conferences, she’s become accustomed to this lonely way of living…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Ookami Shounen Magami-kun / 狼少年真神くん
What’s it about?
Sakura has lived her whole life seemingly invisible. Not only do a good majority of her classmates not even know her name—going as far as most not knowing how to read the Kanji, her voice doesn’t even register in her teachers brain half the time. Though lonely, she’s become accustomed to living “in the shadows”. While she seems to not linger in the minds of the humans around her, she is able to find some companionship in one of the neighbourhood dogs.
While taking it on a walk one day, the two pass by a lake, only to spot a mysterious looking boy on the other side. With snow-white hair and different coloured eyes, Sakura isn’t sure if he’s human or some ethereal being. He disappears in an instant, leading to further questioning in her head…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Fukakouryoku no I LOVE YOU / 不可抗力のI LOVE YOU
What’s it about?
Sena, trying to ignore her feelings for her classmate Wataya, decides that she wants to try and get a boyfriend for herself. While she could accept the fact that she has feelings for him and see where things go, she knows it would probably spell doom for her. Why? He is a naturally touchy person, and it’s very difficult to determine if he acts a certain way towards people because he likes them, or if that’s just how he is. When she thought the two of them had a moment during gym class, she saw him having the exact same moment with a different girl the next day, and then a male classmate a day later. On top of that, he’s a bit of an air head—even when directly invited to a mixer, he doesn’t understand he’s being invited because girls are interested in him. Admitting you have feelings for such a person would surely spell doom…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Hana ni Kamiguse / 花に噛みぐせ
What’s it about?
Our protagonist Suu is a teenage girl living the lonely life of an heiress. After a kidnapping incident when she was a child, her would-be school friends were advised by their parents to stay away from her. Now in high school, Suu grew up to be a very lovely, but lonely, girl.
One day on her way home from school, her driver accidentally almost(?) hits a boy at a crosswalk. She ends up taking him home, they agree to call him Yuki when it’s revealed that he has total memory loss. Suu and Yuki bond rather quickly, with Yuki being a very kind, somewhat shy boy…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Futari de Koi wo Suru Riyuu / ふたりで恋をする理由
What’s it about?
Urara made a promise to herself: the next time she falls for someone, she’s going to do something about it. As she’s always had difficulties really sticking up for herself in social situations, she wants to be able to move on and grow as a person. In the past, if someone had a crush on the same person as her, she would give up her feelings and support them. If someone chastised her in public, she would awkwardly just stand there and take it. But, no more!
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Mi wo Kogasu hodo no Ai wo Shite / 身を焦がすほどの愛を知れ
What’s it about?
When she was very young, Miu’s father left her and her mother. To comfort her, her two neighbours, Ren and Ran, both agree to be there for her from here on out. While Ran promised to be her older brother, Ren promised to one day marry her. Both propositions, while very different, did an equally good job of comforting her.
Miu grew up with Ren and Ran, and now 10 years later, she and Ren are in high school, while Ran is a university student. Since the day he offered to be her older brother, Miu has had feelings for Ran. These feelings seem to be obvious to just about everyone besides Ran, and she wants to finally do something about it…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Kuroko to Akuyaku-kun / 黒子と悪役くん
What’s it about?
“Kuroko” is the nickname of our main character, who really loves helping others. She explains that she really only feels like she has a place when she’s being useful, and so she signs herself up for just about every committee that she can at school. On top on this, she also volunteers to help out other committees that she’s not an official member of.
While she genuinely feel fulfilled when watching her classmates have a good time thanks to her hard work, just about everyone in these committees takes advantage of her good will…
Continue reading in my full review for this series here.
Hebigami-kun wa Samui to Henshin Shichau kara / 蛇神くんは寒いと変身しちゃうから
What’s it about?
Hebigami is a boy who is the descendent of a snake god. Because of this, whenever he gets cold, he transforms into a snake. This isn’t permanent though, as once he’s been adequately warmed up, he returns to his human form.
His classmate, Haruna, has taken it upon herself to be his designated wamer-uper, and she always has a supply of things such as hand warmers and an extra warm scarf on supply.
Things weren’t always like this though, as when Hebigami first transferred to Haruna’s school, just about everyone was terrified of him. I mean – he quite literally can transform into a giant snake…
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